Cloughaneely hoping to have reason for double celebration at Christmas

Long before their U-21 footballers set out on their journey towards Saturday’s U21B final, Cloughaneely officials were already preparing for another U-21 celebration of a very different kind. 

As it happens, the year Kevin Scanlon has guided the club to an U-21B final is on the 25th anniversary of the club last U-21 championship success.  

Cloughaneely meet Burt in the U-21B decider this Saturday evening at the Donegal Training Centre. 

“We last won the U-21 championship 25 years ago in 2000,” said Scanlon. 

“It was our second success; we also won the U-21 in 1998. We beat St Naul’s in ‘98 and Termon in 2000.  

“Myself and John Paul Gallagher, who is helping me out with this year’s team, were on the ‘98 team, and Daniel Curran, who is also a member of the management team, was on the ‘00 team. 

“The club has planned to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the ‘00 success at this year’s annual presentation night at Christmas.  

“Hopefully we will have a double reason for celebration. Maybe it is an omen that we are going to end a 25-year famine, albeit those first two wins were in the U-21A championship.” 

Kevin Scanlon readily admits that Cloughaneely are surprise finalists and that his side’s clash with Burt is a surprise final pairing.  

“If you take it that at the end of the group stages, we finished in sixth place and Burt in seventh place it is most definitely an unlikely final two.” 

Carndonagh, Glenfin, Malin, and Naomh Padraig Uisce Chaoin made up the top four at the end of the league. But they are all gone. 

“In fairness to our lads, we had a tough draw in the group. We beat Fanad at home well the first day. But then we were away to Malin in the second game. 

“We were six points up in that game at one stage but Malin came back and beat us by five or six. 

“And our last game was at home to Carndonagh and we lost that game by a point. And though we lost we took great heart from that game against Carndonagh. 

“They were beating all around them and went unbeaten through the group games and they only beat us by two points. 

“Though we lost two of the group games because the defeats were at the hands of two of the top three teams, we felt we had momentum going into the knockout stages.   

“We were back to Connolly Park to face Malin for the second time and this time we turned the tables on them.  

“We beat them by two points which was a huge result and a big result of the season to go and beat Malin on their own patch. It was an enormous boost of confidence for the lads.  

“And last Friday night we beat Milford, another of the top teams, thanks to a late goal from Donnachadh Ó Baoighill to win by a point. 

“It was a game that could have gone either way but the momentum we built up from the Malin game saw us through. 

“And hopefully we can build on those last two wins now to carry us through on Saturday evening and we can have that double celebration at Christmas,” said Scanlon.